General Contractor in Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Western San Bernardino County
Green Design and Build is a licensed residential general contractor (CSLB #1110975) serving the western end of San Bernardino County: Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Montclair, Chino, Chino Hills and Fontana. We remodel kitchens and bathrooms, build ADUs, additions, patio covers, pavers and pool surrounds, and re-roof homes. The company is led by Dekel Sofer, serving homeowners across Los Angeles County, Orange County, Ventura County, western Riverside County and western San Bernardino County from our office in Van Nuys. We do not take work in the High Desert, the mountain communities or the eastern half of the county. An ADU here takes six months to a year from first meeting to final inspection; a bathroom a few weeks; a kitchen a few months.
Where we work in San Bernardino County, and where we do not
San Bernardino County is the largest county in the continental United States, and most of it is desert and mountain that no contractor based in the San Fernando Valley can honestly serve. We work in the valley cities along the 10 and 210 corridors from the Los Angeles County line to Fontana: Chino Hills, Chino, Montclair, Ontario, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana. That is the part of the county within about an hour and a quarter of our Van Nuys office outside rush hour, and it is where our crews can be on site every working day for the life of a project.
We do not currently take projects in the High Desert (Victorville, Hesperia, Apple Valley), in the mountain communities (Lake Arrowhead, Crestline, Big Bear) or in the cities east of Fontana, including Rialto, Colton, San Bernardino, Redlands and Yucaipa. If your address is in Rialto or the city of San Bernardino and the project is a large one, ask; we will tell you plainly whether we can staff it properly.
How we serve San Bernardino County from Van Nuys
Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga are about 55 to 65 miles east of our office, an hour and a quarter by the 210 or the 10 outside rush hour and closer to two hours in it. We group site visits and estimates into Inland Empire days, so the first meeting is usually within a week of your call, and once a project starts, the crew assigned to it is on site every working day until it is finished. Materials are delivered directly to the job from suppliers in Ontario, Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga, which have some of the largest building-supply yards in Southern California, so we are not hauling lumber and tile from the Valley.
Permits, plan check and inspections are handled by us, in your city’s system, and we are used to the fact that each city runs its own. We open the case, upload the set, clear corrections and schedule every inspection through to final.
Who issues the building permit
Every city we serve in western San Bernardino County has its own building division and its own online permit system, and properties outside city limits are permitted by San Bernardino County Building and Safety.
The two cities we work in most illustrate the range. Ontario’s Building Department is at 303 East B Street, open Monday to Thursday 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM and Friday 8 AM to 5 PM, with permits and inspections run through the city’s online Permit Portal; its ADU rules live in Chapter 5 of the Ontario Development Code and the city keeps a list of pre-approved detached ADU plans that get reduced staff review. Rancho Cucamonga’s Building and Safety Services are at 10500 Civic Center Drive; the city issues no permits over the counter, every application goes through its Online Permit Center, resubmittals are reviewed within five business days and inspections are available the next day, Monday through Thursday. Upland, Montclair, Chino, Chino Hills and Fontana each follow the same state codes with their own portals and plan-check queues. Our Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga pages cover those two cities in detail.
Three things shape permits here more than the code itself. Ontario has a Historic Preservation Program with Certificates of Appropriateness for exterior changes to designated homes, and the Euclid Avenue Historic District runs the length of the avenue north of G Street to the 10. Rancho Cucamonga’s northern foothills fall under the State Fire Marshal’s fire hazard severity zone maps, which the Rancho Cucamonga Fire District circulated for public review in April 2025, and a structure in a Very High zone is built to the state wildland-urban interface standards. And the newer master-planned neighborhoods in every city, from Ontario Ranch to Victoria and Terra Vista in Rancho Cucamonga to the 1990s tracts of Chino Hills, have HOAs that review exterior work before the city will issue a permit.
The housing stock: from Craftsman bungalows to Ontario Ranch
Western San Bernardino County has a wider spread of housing than most of Southern California, and the project we recommend depends on which of these you own.
The oldest homes are along the historic core of Ontario and Upland: Craftsman bungalows, American Foursquares, Spanish Revival and post-war minimal traditional houses on raised foundations, many of them in the Euclid Avenue corridor where 102 properties make up the historic district. Galvanized plumbing, small panels, unbolted sill plates and original windows are typical, and these are the houses where a whole-home renovation or a seismic bolting job earns its cost.
The post-war and 1960s to 1980s tracts fill central and south Ontario between the 10 and the 60, Montclair, Chino, older Upland and the Alta Loma and Cucamonga sections of Rancho Cucamonga: single-story ranches on slab foundations with attached garages, on lots large enough for a rear addition or a detached ADU. Alta Loma is the exception in scale, with half-acre and estate lots under an equestrian overlay along the foothills, where the horse corral is as likely to become a guest house as the garage is.
The 1990s to 2010s master-planned communities are the rest: Terra Vista, Victoria and the Etiwanda tracts in Rancho Cucamonga, Chino Hills, and the newer parts of Fontana. Two-story stucco-and-tile homes on HOA lots with post-tension slabs, where kitchen and bathroom remodels, outdoor living and ADUs designed for HOA review are the usual work.
The newest houses are in Ontario Ranch, the 13-square-mile master-planned community on the city’s south side that the city expects to add about 50,000 new homes by 2044. Those homes rarely need a remodel yet, but their owners are already asking for patio covers, pavers, pool surrounds and finished backyards, because the builders leave the lots bare.
Building for Inland Empire heat and wind
The valley cities of San Bernardino County sit in California Energy Commission Climate Zone 10, with summer temperatures well above 100°F and Santa Ana winds that come through the Cajon Pass and down the foothills every fall. That changes what we build. Every re-roof here gets a cool-rated product, which the state energy code requires anyway on any roof more than half replaced. Windows are low-E as a matter of course, attic insulation and radiant barriers pay for themselves, and patio covers are engineered for wind exposure rather than copied from a coastal design. On the Rancho Cucamonga foothill lots, a new structure in a fire hazard severity zone is built with a Class A roof, ember-resistant vents, ignition-resistant siding and tempered glazing.
Patio covers are the clearest example: we have a dedicated Inland Empire patio cover page covering insulated roof panels for 100°F+ summers, Santa Ana wind uplift, HOA review and permits in Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana.
Soils matter too. The foothill neighborhoods sit on the alluvial fans below the San Gabriel Mountains, where fast-draining decomposed granite and cobble make excavation slow and footings deep, and parts of the valley floor have expansive clay that cracks slabs and stucco. We look at the soil before we price a foundation, an ADU or a pool deck, not after.
What we build most in western San Bernardino County
ADUs and garage conversions come first, because the lots here are larger than in Los Angeles and rents in Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga support a detached unit. Kitchen remodeling and bathroom remodeling follow, most often opening 1970s and 1980s kitchens to the family room and rebuilding original bathrooms in the historic-core homes. Room additions are common on the tract lots. Patio covers, pavers and outdoor living are the most requested projects in the new communities, because shade is the first thing an Ontario Ranch or Chino Hills backyard needs; our patio cover cost guide has the figures. Roofing is a steady part of the work, cool-rated tile and shingle on the tracts and Class A products in the foothills; see our roof replacement cost guide. Foundation and structural work, flooring, painting, windows and doors, and plumbing and electrical upgrades performed by licensed tradespeople round out the list, and we take on whole-home renovations of the older Ontario and Upland houses.
Why San Bernardino County homeowners hire Green Design and Build
We are a licensed, bonded and insured general contractor (CSLB #1110975) with hundreds of completed projects and a 4.7-star rating across 146 Yelp reviews. One company designs, permits and builds the project, so there is no gap between the plans and the crew. We know the difference between an Ontario Permit Portal submittal and a Rancho Cucamonga Online Permit Center case, we prepare the HOA package before the city set so the two match, and we build for the heat rather than against it. Every estimate is written, itemized and free, and the site visit comes first; we do not price a house we have not seen.
Frequently asked questions about remodeling in San Bernardino County
Do you serve Victorville, Big Bear or the city of San Bernardino?
No. Green Design and Build covers the western valley of San Bernardino County only: Chino Hills, Chino, Montclair, Ontario, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana. We do not currently take projects in the High Desert, the mountain communities or the cities east of Fontana, including Rialto, Colton, San Bernardino, Redlands and Yucaipa.
Do you have an office in San Bernardino County?
No. We serve western San Bernardino County from our office in Van Nuys, about an hour and a quarter from Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga outside rush hour and closer to two hours in it. Site visits are grouped into Inland Empire days, and once a project starts the crew assigned to it is on site every working day until it is finished.
Who issues building permits in Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga?
Each city issues its own residential building permits. Ontario’s Building Department at 303 East B Street runs permits and inspections through the city’s online Permit Portal; Rancho Cucamonga’s Building and Safety Services at 10500 Civic Center Drive takes every application through its Online Permit Center and does not issue permits over the counter. Upland, Montclair, Chino, Chino Hills and Fontana have their own building divisions, and unincorporated areas are permitted by San Bernardino County Building and Safety.
Can I build an ADU in San Bernardino County?
Yes. California’s ADU law applies in every city in the county and in the unincorporated areas, so a compliant detached ADU, a junior ADU of up to 500 square feet or a garage conversion must be approved ministerially. Ontario keeps a list of pre-approved detached ADU plans that get reduced review, and Rancho Cucamonga allows a detached ADU of up to 1,200 square feet with four-foot side and rear setbacks. The larger lots in Alta Loma, Chino and older Ontario make detached units the usual choice.
Do I need a permit for a patio cover in San Bernardino County?
Yes. Every city in western San Bernardino County and the county itself require a building permit for an attached or freestanding patio cover, and the cover must be engineered for the local wind exposure, which is significant below the Cajon Pass and along the foothills. HOA architectural approval is usually required as well in the master-planned communities.
Is my Rancho Cucamonga home in a fire zone?
If it is in the northern foothills, possibly. The State Fire Marshal’s fire hazard severity zone maps for Rancho Cucamonga went to public review in April 2025 through the Rancho Cucamonga Fire District, and a home in a Very High zone builds additions and new structures to the state wildland-urban interface standards: Class A roof, ember-resistant vents and ignition-resistant exterior materials. We verify the zone by address before we design.
How do you deal with the summer heat during a remodel?
We schedule exterior, roofing and attic work for early starts and keep the house sealed from dust and heat while the air conditioning runs. In the design itself we favor insulated patio covers, added attic insulation, radiant barriers, low-E windows and cool-roof products, because a remodel in Ontario or Fontana that ignores the climate costs more to live in every summer.
What does a general contractor cost in Ontario or Rancho Cucamonga?
Costs in San Bernardino County are driven by scope and finishes rather than by the city, and they fall in the same broad range as the rest of Southern California. Rather than quote a number that does not fit your house, we publish guides on what a general contractor, a kitchen remodel, a roof replacement and an ADU cost, each based on real projects. A site visit and written estimate are free.
Projects we have built in and near San Bernardino County
Work completed in the Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga area, with two more a short drive away:
- Hall Bathroom Remodel in Ontario — a full hall-bathroom rebuild.
- Concrete, retaining walls, artificial turf, fencing, outdoor kitchens and decks and landscaping and irrigation.
- Two Bathrooms and a Powder Room in Diamond Bar — remodeled together in one house, with large-format marble-look tile, linear drains and frameless glass.
- Paver Driveway and Side Yard in Anaheim — excavation, compacted base and finished pavers with drains set flush.
The full gallery is at our projects.
Ready to talk about your San Bernardino County project?
Send us the address and what you want to build. We will tell you whether it is inside the area we serve, which permit office and HOA are involved, and what the schedule looks like.